A Bohemian Black-Tie Wedding: Diana + Josh

Monday, August, 1, 2011 16 Comments

I’m so excited to start the week off with this gorgeous bohemian black-tie wedding. Diana is a food stylist and Josh is a photographer, so you can imagine how unique + beautiful their wedding will be! A whimsical, warm and inviting environment with plenty of flowers and candlelight. Clean, crisp design meets natural, wild beauty is how they described their wedding and I think you guys are going to just love it! So much thought was put into the day! Thanks so much to Cristen + Scott of W. Scott Chester photography for letting me share their amazing photos.

Gorgeous bouquet + dress! Diana’s dress started out as a St. Pucchi dress that she pretty much cut up into a million pieces and completely redesigned + put back together! Amazing…

How gorgeous are the bridesmaids!? Diana shared with me that her bridesmaids, mother and mother-in-law all live in different parts of the country and world. So as a gift to them, Diana hired a yoga teacher to come to their hotel on Venice Beach the morning of the wedding and start the day off with a private yoga class. What a fun and perfect way to relax before the wedding! She also gave them each custom yoga pants as a gift from pretty penny designs etsy shop and robes from plum pretty sugar!

L.O.V.E. this first look!

Most memorable moment of your wedding day? Signing the Ketubah surrounded by our immediate family and bridal party. My bridesmaid Sarah, a professional violinist, was playing softly in the background and it completely calmed our nerves and set the tone going into the ceremony.

Song you walked down the aisle to? Canon in D Exit song? All You Need Is Love by the Beatles

Josh and I wanted to give our guests the true Venice Beach experience, so we decided to rent a restored English double-decker bus to transport from Hotel Erwin to the Smog Shoppe and back at the end of the night.

The idea for our cocktail hour is that we wanted it to feel like a giant, inviting living room. We layered tons of vintage Persian rugs we’ve collected over the past year over the concrete floor and had hundreds of lit candles for a romantic feel. Heirloom LA served champagne and passed appetizers as well as a stationary crostini bar with meats and cheeses they cure and smoke themselves. YUM!

I LOVE this idea! Escort cards/Wedding Favors: We decided to give vintage bow-ties and vintage silk scarves to our guests as combo escort cards and wedding favors. We scoured ebay and every vintage clothing store in town and managed to find enough actual vintage good condition ones we were so thrilled that we pulled it off! We also made custom clothing labels that our friend Aimee sewed on to each bow-tie/scarf that said “D+J.”

Diana + Josh rented a vintage restored VW camperbus for their honeymoon (driving up the Cali coast!). They got to thinking how cute it would be if they could park the camper bus right in the courtyard of the Smog Shoppe. The Smog Shoppe let them to that, so Diana + Josh decided to use it as a photo booth during the reception and then as their getaway car after the wedding! How fun! 🙂

How romantic to play Casablanca in the background! 🙂

Any advice for those planning now? Know both your strengths and limitations. If you think you can do it, you probably can! If you know you’re not capable without a little help, select your vendors with the same mindset the Harvard admissions board accepts their students — you’re looking for vendors who are tricks of all trades, or absolute masters in their respective industries. I remember after our tasting with Heirloom LA telling Matt & Tal that they could pretty much just show up and I’d be happy. Everything they put in front of us was the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. Consequently I didn’t know (or care that I didn’t know!) what our vegetarian option was going to be until the day before our wedding. You can’t put a price on that kind of trust!

Along the same lines, we wanted to put a BIG thank you out there to Loop Haro of Dovetail Coordination by TACT. He went from being in charge of our day of coordination to talking me down after I’d locked myself out of our house and trapped myself in our backyard the day before our wedding to making sure one of his valet guys could escort us back to our hotel in our VW camper bus/photobooth after the wedding. There is NOTHING that phases this guy. He’d get into Harvard if it were up to me.

I’d like to also note that Diana + Josh are debuting a project they’ve been working on for the past few years: Casa de Perrin – a boutique rental company. From Diana, We provide a certain art and soul of setting a table or decorating a room without limitations for brides, event planners, designers, photographers and small dinner parties. Our one-of-a-kind, bohemian-eclectic collections span continents and time periods. We are very excited to be officially up and running! 🙂

Thanks so much Diana + Josh and we wish you both a lifetime of happiness!!

vendors:
photography: W. Scott Chester Photography (you can see even more photos from their wedding here) // venue: Smog Shoppe // day of coordination + management: Loop Haro of Dovetail Coordination by TACT // catering: Heirloom LA // cake: All 11 cakes, tarts and galettes were made by Heather Wong of The Scootabaker // rentals: Casa de Perrin and Found Vintage Rentals // florist: Primary Petals // wedding dress: Started out as a St. Pucchi dress that I pretty much cut up into a million pieces and completely redesigned + put back together // groom’s suit: Dolce & Gabbana // hair + makeup: Mar of TEAM Hair & Makeup // invitations: Amy Tan of The Treespace Studio (you can see the invite here on her blog) // DJ: Nahchey // string quartet: Dash Entertainment // VW camper: Vintage Surfari Wagons // double decker bus: The Big Red Bus Company

Smog Shoppe and Heirloom LA are featured vendors of Green Wedding Shoes, check out Smog Shoppe’s vendor profile and Heirloom LA’s vendor profile to see more of their work or discover other GWS recommended vendors for your wedding day in our Vendor Guide.